Hidden Roses and Accidental Shards
by Dawn Totadile
Summary: Yeah, another "Steven's got an older sister" story whoopee! :P So, in this one its a story of a girl named Rachel Rosanna Universe, and she was kidnapped just after Steven was born, so he never met her. He recently found out about her, and with the gems help, rescued her from Yellow Diamond's ship. Can Rachel adapt to being human once more, and what's with her newly grown gem?
1. Chapter 1

No one likes to talk about what happened before Steven was born. No one likes to mention the past, his mother, or anything that might upset him. Steven's made it clear he wants to know his mother better, and the limits on that are no longer as bad as they had been. Secrets are still kept, but not as many. One such secret is of a young girl who didn't have a gem, but had bright pink hair, somewhat pink tan skin, bright brown eyes that gave way to large pink stars when she was excited, and a childish nature. This young girl was the elder child of Rose Quartz and Greg Universe. Her name was Rachel Rosanna Universe. She was five when Steven was born, but had been kidnapped days after. No one knew where the young girl had disappeared to, but the Gems had all agreed to convince Greg to never mention her unless they found her. Greg, heartbroken by this, agreed that it would be for the best, and would probably keep Steven close to him and less likely to get taken as well.

Ten years have passed, and many secrets have been revealed to Steven, from Garnet being a fusion of two gems, to the fact that his mother had shattered Pink Diamond. The secret of Rachel Universe though was still hidden from the boy, but that was all about to change.


	2. Chapter 2

Rachel Universe groaned as she got up once more and looked around. She walked over to the workout bar that had been set up for her. She was now fifteen years old, almost sixteen, had bright curly pink hair, and wore a one piece suit that looked like a space suit which hid her recently grown gem. She had played it off as a growing pain in her stomach around the gems that experimented on her. She was strange, unlike any human they had in the human zoo, or any that anyone had ever seen before. She looked down at her stomach and rubbed the hard stone that was hidden under her suit with a slight affection. She hadn't been born with a gem, which had been why she had been able to know her mother for five years before her little brother was born, but now she had a gem, and was able to talk to her mother's spirit for some reason. The two of them talked telepathically. Rose's spirit mainly stayed with Steven, making sure that he was also safe. Rachel didn't mind that. Truthfully, she only wanted Steven to be safe, and their father, Greg. She also wanted her "Aunts", the Crystal Gems, to be safe as well. Herself? She didn't seem to care anymore.

She did her workout as her mother mentally talked to her about trying to escape. While she now had a gem, Rachel was unsure of whether or not she had her mother's abilities or not. She also knew from Rose that no one had told Steven of her existence. Probably for the better.

Rachel's thoughts went to the Peridot gem that she had once met. It had seemed more… curious than the others, more easier to talk to and to understand. Unfortunately, the gem had been sent to Earth to check on the cluster and had never been seen again.

A gem came into her room, like they had done every day since she had been brought to the ship of Yellow Diamond. Today's gem seemed to be a… a Sapphire… and a Ruby? Rachel raised her right eyebrow as she looked at the gems that had entered. "To what do I deserve this honor, your clarity?" Rachel had started talking as though she herself was a gem of low standing, and being a Rose Quartz technically, she was a simple soldier. Usually a Peridot or a Jasper or something would come and get her for testing, not a… nervous Sapphire and a Ruby that seemed to be twitching in its right eye? "Is something wrong with your Ruby?"

"She will be fine. We are leaving. You are to accompany us. Resistance would be…"

"Futile, I know, but what I don't know is why I'm dealing with a Ruby and Sapphire. I only see you guys around when Yellow Diamond wants to know possible choices I'll make, or if a Peridot is too rough with me." That got both the small gems to flinch. They were smaller than her, but she wasn't a fool. Something was off here. "I will follow, but I do like to know where we are going. I am also in need of my daily nutrition, unless Yellow Diamond finally got tired of me after all these years."

"You will have your… daily nutrition when we get to our location… please do not cause trouble." Her voice is a little shaky. Is she scared of me?

I sigh. Some of these gems really are just little kids. I lean down and place a hand on her shoulder. She didn't ask for her abilities. She didn't ask to be made. Some diamond made her and forced her to be something without asking what she wanted to be. She flinches and so does the Ruby, who I can tell is resisting the urge to run at me and make me back off.

"I won't resist. You don't need to be scared of me." I look over to the Ruby. "Neither of you. I promise. I won't endanger you two. You didn't ask to deal with me. You won't have to worry about me for long probably." I then stand back up and notice the fear on the Ruby's face has only increased. "I promise, I won't hurt your Sapphire, Ruby. You are only following orders. I can't hate you for that."

The Sapphire shakes her head and starts out of the cell. "We must get moving." The Ruby follows, as does Rachel. Rachel notices a Pearl outside the cell, along with a Peridot. The two look familiar to Rachel, but she shakes her head, thinking it must be because she misses her home, her friends, and even the nicer Peridot that seemed to almost be breaking through to being her own gem. "Let's go." The sapphire takes one more look at Rachel before heading off in another direction than the usual testing. "Stay close to Pearl, please."

Rachel bites her lower lip and nods. "Yeah… I can do that…" She then looks over to the Pearl. "How long have you been in this Sapphire's service?"

Pearl looks at her with a bit of confusion before her eyes light up as she remembers her role. "OH, um… eh… long enough?"

"You remind me of a Pearl I knew before… she belonged to a diamond I think, but I'm not really sure… She doesn't like being a Pearl because it means Homeworld Gems think she's dumb…" Rachel grimaced as she continued following the strange gems that didn't even try to put her in restraints of any kind. The Pearl in question looked at the young human with a pained look in her eyes. She had noticed that Rachel's gaze seemed dead almost, as though she had given up on ever escaping.

Soon the group made their way through the halls with very little encounters with other gems. No one would dare to question a Sapphire after all. Eventually they made their way to the docking bay for the space ships. Rachel had not seen it in ten years and was confused as to why she had been brought there. She could practically hear her mother's voice in her head telling her to keep faith and have hope and that her brother was nearby. It was at this point that she was sure she had lost her mind, but still didn't care. She didn't need to exist, she simply did. She knew that if she had the chance to help her family on Earth, she would, but herself? No, she simply didn't care.

"Pearl, get Rachel on the ship. Make sure that the other three are okay as well." The Sapphire sounded afraid.

Rachel went onto the ship with some confusion, but nothing really registered to her as the Gems that had taken her from her cell all got onto the ship as well. Pearl led her to a chair. "You can sit here, Rachel. Are you okay?"

Rachel tilted her head up at the Pearl with a lost look in her eyes. "Is this part of a new test?"

Pearl had started crying as a hand was placed to her mouth in fear. Suddenly a ball of energy bounced onto Rachel, startling her out of her stupor as she looked at a little boy with curly black hair, dark brown eyes that were filled with stars, a red shirt with a bright yellow star in the center, pink flip-flops, and some blue jeans who was hugging her tightly. Rachel gently returned the hug and started stroking his head as though to ease him of worry. She looked around nervously, wondering who the boy was and what they had done to him. Then she noticed that all the gems in the room were crying, and that another human who looked all too familiar was also crying.

Greg looked at his teenage daughter for the first time in ten years and felt sick to his stomach because she didn't even recognize him. He probably would never have even found her if Steven and Peridot hadn't stumbled upon an old picture of her that he had forgotten was hidden in the barn. That had led to a heavy explanation, a lot of shame, and a big shock as Peridot revealed to know her and where she was. A rescue mission had been immediately made up to rescue the pink haired girl, thus leading to where they were now.

Rachel noticed the Amethyst that was crying and saw that she was shorter than the others she had seen, possibly as short as the one from Earth that she had grown up knowing. The Pearl had been kind and had started to take over the controls of the ship while the Ruby and Sapphire were just holding hands and crying. Rachel held the boy a little tighter until he started squirming to move his head up and look at the girl. The two tilted their heads, and while Steven's gem had belonged to his mother, Rachel's gem was indeed her own due to her being born a female, and all gems were female. Her human form just made it take longer for her gem to form though.

The boy climbed off of her, fearing he had done something to upset her. He stood back as she stood up. She looked at him with a sadness in her eyes that was reflected by his own. The Peridot, who was the only gem not crying currently, came forward.

"I am Peridot Facet-2F5L Cut-5XG, do you remember me?" Peridot had her cold and calculating attitude that was well known among the Peridots.

Rachel nodded slowly. "Yeah, I remember you. You were sent to Earth. Tell me you didn't kill everyone, please." Tears, the first sign of emotion to show on her face in years, started to fall from her brown eyes darkening further with fear.

"I… defected to your Crystal Gems' side."

Rachel's eyes widened in shock at this, color returning to her eyes. "You did? But…" The teen then took a better look at the gems around her, and the two humans as well. "They… you all are…"

"Hi, I'm Steven." Steven decided to try another approach now that Peridot, of all gems, had awoken Rachel.

"I… I… I'm Rachel…" Rachel gave out a shaky laugh. Steven tackled her again, this time joined by Greg. "I… I'm so sorry…" Rachel cried out as she held onto the two humans with as much strength as she could, trying to reassure herself this wasn't a dream.

"Whoa, easy there, Rachel, easy. Wow, you're strong, heh." Greg groaned at his daughter's strength.

"OH, sorry, dad." The pink haired half-gem blushed a bright pink as she released her family.

"It's fine, and don't say you're sorry. We should have figured out that some gem had captured you."

"How'd you find me?"

"Peri helped!" Steven exclaimed with glee, happy to know his sister finally.

"Heh, Peri?" She looked over to the Peridot who was blushing green.

"Yes, well, um…"

"Steven gave her a nickname." Amethyst laughed as she wiped some of her tears away. "You doing okay now, Rache?"

"Heh, yeah, I just…" it was at this moment that Rachel's nutrition supply needed to be replenished, and the young teen passed out.

"Rachel!"


	3. Chapter 3

Rachel woke up to find herself in a wooden building of sorts on a bed. She groaned as she pushed herself up and noticed the wires and tubes attached to her. She also noticed a clipboard that had medical notes for what she was hooked up to and what was wrong with her. She had passed out from a lack of nutrition and the gems had discovered her own gem, which Peridot must have realized that her "Cramps" and "Growing Pains" had actually been her gem finally taking form in her young teen body when humans gain the most change. She sighed in relief to find she was on Earth, and no longer in a cell or testing chamber. She was now wearing a pink t-shirt and some black pants that had pink stars on the sides. Her gem was also showing now, as though allowing it to breathe.

She leaned over the edge of the area she was in, thinking it must have been someone's room, and noticed Steven was sleeping on the couch downstairs. Rachel smiled softly at the thought of her little brother being all grown up. She looked at the wires and tubes attached to her and rolled her eyes. 'If this is what I think it is, then all I need is some food… I wonder if Steven would mind me eating something… I wonder if there's anything here… is that a… pink lion?' Lion was staring at the young girl, tilting it's head as though curious as to who she was.

Rachel took a deep breath and started to turn off the machines she was attached to, having been hooked up to machines for testing for the past ten years, and slowly made her way downstairs towards her brother and the lion. She held out a hand, seeing as the lion hadn't attacked Steven, and was curious to see if it would harm her, or react like a kitten. To her relief, the lion acted like a cat, allowing her to scratch his fur for him. He knelt down, as though to let her touch his mane further.

Rachel rubbed it affectionately before walking over to the kitchen for something to eat. She was half surprised to find that Peridot was in the kitchen area with Pearl, the two of them working together to cook something simple for the young gemling. Pearl was the first to notice her while Peri was simply mixing something in a bowl on the floor.

"Rachel!" Pearl quickly put what she was doing down and ran over to the teen who was now standing just a few inches shorter than her at age 15. "Are you okay now? You should rest some more!"

Rachel looked Pearl in the eyes, smiling, and sniffled. She grabbed the petite gem in a hug. "I missed you guys!" Life was returning to her heart and soul. Rachel sobbed into Pearl's shoulder, happy to be just there for the first time in years. Pearl hugged her tightly, hoping to reassure the pink haired girl that she was now safe.

"We missed you too." Pearl then separated just enough to get a good look at her "Niece". She grimaced as she took in how thin she was compared to the other humans she had seen. "You're almost as thin as me, what have they been feeding you?"

"Nutritional paste made from the fruit that they grow in the human zoo." Peridot answered automatically as she continued stirring the strange mixture for "Pancakes". She looked up at Pearl, wondering what she was making. "Are these done? How does this even work."

"Hehe, the mix is done, yes, but now we have to cook it." Pearl then smiled as she grabbed a skillet. "I'm making you and Steven some pancakes. How does that sound?"

Rachel thought about it for a moment, trying to remember what pancakes were. "Um…"

Pearl frowned slightly as she realized that Rachel didn't remember what they were. "You'll see what they are. Once the others wake up we need to discuss your gem and training."

Rachel blushed. "M…my gem? You guys aren't going to take it from me, are you?"

Pearl was shocked that that was the first thing the young girl thought was going to happen. "Goodness, no! That's a part of who you are now! We'd never take that from you! We just want to see if you can learn to use it like Steven did!"

Rachel looked over her shoulder to her still sleeping little brother. "He learned how to use mom's gem?"

"Yes, he has access to her powers and shield. He lets one of his friends, Connie, use your mother's sword as self-defense. He's even starting to get used to fusion!"

"What's Fusion?" Rachel asked, choosing to let it be if someone else was using her mother's sword, so long as the gems approved.

Peridot and Pearl both stopped what they were doing and blushed. Peridot hadn't realized that no one had bothered to tell Rachel about Fusion, and Pearl was embarrassed when she realized that she had forgotten that she knew Garnet, but didn't know who made up Garnet exactly.

"I'll explain Fusion to you, Rachel." Rachel turned quickly and jumped slightly into a hug with Garnet.

"Aunt Garnet!" She sounded so childish and free spirited still, but the gems knew this was simply her defense mechanism for dealing with the trauma of being on board a gem ship for ten years.

"Hello, Rachel." Garnet smiled, hiding tears behind her visor. "Are you ready to learn about Fusion?"

"Yeah!"

Garnet let go of the eager to learn girl and walked over to the door. "Let's go outside so we have more room." Rachel laughed as she ran outside. Garnet looked back to Pearl. "We'll be back by the time breakfast is ready." Pearl nodded, allowing the fusion to go outside with the eager gemling.

Rachel was looking at the starry sky as the sun started to rise. She hadn't been able to see anything but the inside of a ship for ten years. She sat herself down in the sand and looked out across the ocean. "It's still beautiful…"

"Yeah, it is." Garnet smiled as she sat down next to Rachel. "Ready to learn about fusion?"

Rachel closed her eyes and listened to her mother's voice in her head, explaining that Garnet was a fusion. While Rachel didn't entirely understand, she did notice the fact that Garnet had a gem in each hand while other gems only had one gem. "Does it have something to do with you having multiple gems?"

Garnet smiled. "Yes, it does. I am a fusion. I'm made up of two gems and their love for each other. Most gems use fusion to get something done, but I use it because it can also represent love. Do you understand?"

Rachel nodded with a determined look on her face. "Who are the two gems that make you up?"

Garnet smiled softly as she split into Ruby and Sapphire. Sapphire smiled gently while Ruby remained cocky looking. "This answer your question, Rache?" The Ruby asked with a wide grin.

Rachel blushed a bright pink. "Um… heh… did I make a good first impression?"

The two gems looked at each other and then laughed. "That's what Steven asked when he found out too." Sapphire pointed out before the two merged once more into Garnet.

"And as we said to Steven, we already love you." Garnet smiled while rubbing Rachel's head. "Now come on, let's get you some food."


	4. Chapter 4

After eating some food, Rachel started to work on summoning a weapon. Steven explained it as best as he could, and Rachel couldn't help but smile, having thought that she'd be the one teaching him only to have it reversed in reality. Rachel had trouble summoning anything until after an hour, which brought out a large kite shield with a rose emblem on it. Pearl and the other gems were ecstatic about how fast she had learned while Steven was jumping about with excitement on how cool her shield looked. It quickly disappeared though as she became flustered from all the compliments. "Um… t…thank you… er… it… didn't last too long though…"

"Don't worry, Rachel." Steven smiled as he put his hands on his hips. "With our training, you'll be able to soon hold it for long periods of time!"

Rachel liked the sound of that and decided to sit in the house while the others trained some more. She walked around, trying to adapt to the changes that had been made to the temple while she was gone. She walked over to where she remembered the gem door was and tried to open it with her gem. Much to her surprise, it glowed and the door opened!

She entered the pink clouded room with a curiosity, since she hadn't been in there in ten years. The door remained open though, for some reason. Rachel grimaced as she felt the room shift to accommodate her and her own gem. She left after only a few minutes though, knowing that she probably didn't feel right staying in it at the moment. Rachel found herself drawn to another room though.

This room was dark and had multiple bubbles filled with different gems. She found herself drawn to a particular gem that was colorful on the inside and seemed to go inwards like a strange temple of colors. She knew that she wasn't allowed to touch them, but… for some reason, this felt like something she had to do. She was about to touch the strange bubble when she heard her brother calling for her. She gave one quick glance back at the gem before giving a grimace and walking back to the main area where her little brother was standing next to a slightly taller girl with long dark hair and a kind face. She was also carrying a set of books, making Rachel grimace as she realized that she knew less than Steven probably. This was probably Connie, the bearer of Rose Quartz's sword.

Looks like Rachel was going to be tutored…


	5. Chapter 5

Rachel was sitting in the darkened room with all the gems as she did the homework she had been assigned by Connie. Connie had commented on how strange it was for her to be a teacher to an older person, but Rachel was grateful for it anyway and was a pretty good student. She had been back on Earth for about a month now, and still couldn't summon anything but her shield, which was now able to last for five minutes.

The gems had been surprised to find out that Rachel had been experimented on and had even been considered for becoming a personal gem guard to Yellow diamond even without her gem. Rachel had only managed to convince the Homeworld gems this was bad by explaining that she seemed to be having a blood week each month that made her temperamental. Connie had embarrassingly taken Rachel aside and explained what it was and that that was part of her human functions. Connie had also helped her to prepare for it better.

Rachel looked up at all the gems and tried to draw one of them in one of her journals. It wasn't too difficult considering it was only a rock, but she felt that it was missing something, probably the body that went with it. Rachel looked over at the gem that seemed to draw her focus the most, a bismuth. Her brother and the gems were all out on a gem mission, trusting her to stay home for a bit on her own, and Connie was at her own school in town. Rachel knew that she could always just go talk to her dad down at the car wash, or go see the Peridot and Lapis over at the barn through the portal.

While it was tempting, and she sort of knew Peridot, she felt like she should talk to someone else. Rachel looked up at the bubbled gems and remembered being told that she couldn't touch them. There were also gems up there that were obviously shards, some of which had been put together, which made her gut wrench. She knew it was wrong, but Steven had explained them as to being made by homeworld, so they had suffered worse than she had. No one knew how to help them though. Rachel was tempted to try, but without enough training or a real weapon, she knew she couldn't stand a chance against anything if something went wrong.

Maybe she could talk to a full gem though? Rachel had only been told not to touch the Jasper gem as it had been corrupted. She had been told not to touch any of the bubbles, but that one had come with a very specific warning. No one had said anything about the Bismuth though…

Rachel slowly reached up and grabbed one of the pink orbs, somehow managing to not pop it. "I'm so sorry, Bismuth…" Rose Quartz voice whispered in Rachel's head as she looked at the gem. Rachel stood up as she popped the bubble and released the now glowing gem.

A large gem lady stood before the petite girl, her rainbow colored hair covering her face as she took deep breathes. Her skin was a light purplish blue with black star tattoos on her shoulders. Her gem was in her chest just above her blacksmith apron which also had a purple star on it that was part of her pants, along with a set of black boots. She looked at the girl in front of her with confusion. She wasn't Steven, but she looked like a Rose Quartz… was she…?

"Are you okay?" The hybrid offered her hand to the other gem. Bismuth looked at it and took it slowly.

"I'm… fine…" She recognized the place to be the temple still, though she hadn't been in this room last time. "Um… I hate to ask this, but uh…"

Rachel grimaced. "I'm not Rose Quartz, I'm just her daughter. That means that I am only part of her. Being a female, like most gems, I grew my own gem, which allowed her a few more years before she had my brother Steven. Does that help?"

Bismuth grimaced. She had been about to ask where Steven and the other gems were, but she was happy with the response she got anyway. "I was going to ask where Steven and the others were, but yeah, that does help… I didn't see you last time I was here…"

"Why were you bubbled? Answer that, then I'll explain why I wasn't here." Rachel smirked.

Bismuth liked her attitude, as it was that of a fighter, and it was clever. A good combination in a battle, to be sure. "I was bubbled because I lost my temper and had a fight with your brother, mainly because I thought he was your mom. Does that help?"

Rachel thought about it and then held out a hand. "Rachel Rosanna Universe, older sister of Steven Quartz Universe, and daughter of Rose Quartz and Greg Universe. I was captured by Yellow Diamond years ago and was recently rescued by Steven and the Crystal Gems."

Bismuth smirked as she shook the tiny hand gently. "Bismuth, Forge Master of the Crystal Gems. I may get a bit over enthusiastic about destroying those Homeworld jerks, but I make the finest weapons like nobody's bismuth." Rachel chuckled at that.

"Okay, so it sounds like I just gotta keep you from trying to shatter anyone and we can have you on our team, sound good?"

"Heh, you make it sound like you can just keep talking to me and we'll be fine."

"That's what we humans call counseling. It might help you out."

"You say so, but uh… you should probably put me back in the bubble."

Rachel frowned at that. "Why? You're one of us! You want to shatter gems because they shattered your friends, right?"

"Yeah?" Bismuth was curious as to where this was going. This girl was pretty smart for someone who had only just met her. "So? Crystal Gems aren't supposed to shatter."

"No, we aren't, but that doesn't mean we don't need your help. You said that you make the best weapons ever, right?"

"Yeah?"

"So, I bet you can also use them as well!"

Bismuth nodded, she was capable of handling most weapons she forged, that way she could be sure they worked. "But so what? I'm too violent, I almost shattered Steven! He's a good kid…"

"Yeah, he is, and he didn't shatter you. That means he must see a hope for you, right?"

"I guess…" Bismuth sat down and sighed. She didn't know what to do with herself.

"Look, okay, how's about we just… sit and talk about stuff while we wait for the others. They're your friends too, right?"

"Pearl and Garnet, for sure. I was starting to like that Amethyst, but I didn't get to know her or Steven that well. I liked them both though. They had spunk." Bismuth smirked.

"Look, it's none of my bismuth, but I can honestly say that as your friends, they might be willing to give you another chance, so long as you are willing to play by the rules. Okay?" Rachel asked as she sat back down at her pile of homework.

Bismuth sighed and nodded, smirking at the small pun that Rachel had included in her speech. "Alright then, we might as well get to know each other."

The two of them talked for a couple more hours until they heard the whoosh of a portal. Both looked slightly nervous until Rachel just took a deep breath and continued talking about the differences that she had noticed between her and Steven on their gems, such as their shapes. Her own gem had started to take the natural form of a star in some aspects.

Garnet was the first to enter the room, making Bismuth feel extremely guilty until the fusion hugged her and sat down next to her and Rachel. "So, I see you both are getting along famously."

"Yes, Aunt Garnet." Rachel smirked. "I think Bismuth is pretty cool once she gets down to bismuth." The three chuckled, which only brought Steven and the other two gems in.

Pearl and Amethyst didn't know what to think, but Steven was smiling nervously. "Um, hello, Bismuth."

"Hey, Steven… sorry about last time… I um…"

Steven grimaced. "It's fine, I probably shouldn't have gotten all up in your bismuth anyway." This caused the gem to chuckle, along with both Rachel and Steven. Garnet gave a slight nod to the other gems to assure them that Bismuth was no longer going to be a danger to Steven. "So… no more shattering?"

Bismuth nodded her head. "Yeah, no more shattering. I promise… I just…"

"You know, there might be a way to save those who were shattered and put together wrong…" Rachel interrupted.

"Put together wrong?" Bismuth asked confused.

Garnet pointed to some of the fused shards. "Homeworld was doing some horrible experiments with shards, fusing them together to make weapons." Bismuth looked at them horrified. "None of us knew, how could any of us know?" A tear fell down the fusion's face.

Bismuth was shuddering while looking at the shards that at one point might have been her friends and enemies, all horribly fused together… like some sort of monster…

"Guys…" The gems and Steven turned towards Rachel. "Mom had healing powers, right?" All of them nodded. "Well, what if one of us develop the ability and manage to save them?"

"I have the ability to heal, Rachel, I just… can't save those who are corrupted just yet…"

Rachel smiled softly. "We'll figure it out, Steven. Don't worry."


End file.
